Child Labour: What is Happening in New Zealand?

Anderson, Danae; Lamm, Felicity; Rasmussen, Erling; Shuttleworth, Peter S.; McMorland, Judith

doi:10.26686/lew.v0i0.1629

Cited by 3 publications

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“…Critics of teen employment often cite its association with school leaving and declining academic performance, although longitudinal US research suggests a complex relationship (Mortimer, 2003). There is good evidence that employment exposes teens to injurious and otherwise undesirable work situations Lewko et al, 2010;Anderson et al, 2008;McCall et al, 2007;Breslin et al, 2007a;Levine, 2003;Evensen et al, 2000;Pickett et al, 1999;Dufort et al, 1997;Parker et al, 1994a;Brooks et al,1993).…”

Section: Child Labour In Developed Countriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Prospects for Greater Enforcement of Teen Employment Laws in Alberta, Canada. “Politically, how do you make it relevant? […] Kill more young people!”

Barnetson

2015

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Summary This study uses a Delphi analysis to identify significant barriers to the development of sustained and meaningful pressure on the Alberta government to increase the enforcement of its laws regulating the employment of teenagers. In addition to general employment laws (e.g., wage payment, occupational health and safety) that appear to go broadly unenforced, Alberta also appears not to enforce laws specifying the hours during which teens may work, the occupations in which they may work and the job tasks they may perform. The result is wage theft, workplace injury and illegal forms of employment among teens. The seven Delphi panelists—a mixture of academics, trade unionists and staff members in not-for-profit agencies with an interest in employment matters—identify a tight business-government relationship as an important limit on the political opportunities available to insurgents seeking change. Insurgents must also grapple with a framing that minimizes concerns around teen employment, i.e. by framing illegal or injurious work as an educational rite of passage and complaints as whining. Together, these barriers significantly limit the opportunities to pressure the state to enhance enforcement. Panelists also noted that there is no mobilizing structure in place that teenage workers and their allies can access. Alberta’s labour movement has had limited success organizing the service sector (where most teens are employed). Some panelists suggested leveraging the widespread sexual harassment of female teen workers as a way to access existing networks and resources in feminist and labour organizations. Other panelists argued that focusing on sexual harassment would emphasize individual employers’ misbehaviour and obscure the class-based nature of inadequate enforcement. Most panelists suggested that highlighting the socially inappropriate nature of the death or serious injury of teen workers would be the best way to destabilize the existing barriers to better enforcement of employment laws. The opportunity to do so is (fortunately) rare and may be difficult to leverage. Indeed, research on high profile occupational fatalities in Canada (e.g., the Westray Mine disaster) suggests that such fatalities do not have a significant effect on state enforcement efforts. In the meantime, advocates such as organized labour and community groups may also work to alter conventional views of teen employment by supporting educational or artistic endeavours that problematize teen employment. This could include identifying the risks and consequences of the non-enforcement of laws regulating the employment of teens (such as injury and wage theft) as well as highlighting the reasons why teen workers warrant the enforcement of their workplace rights by the state.

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Section: Child Labour In Developed Countriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Prospects for Greater Enforcement of Teen Employment Laws in Alberta, Canada. “Politically, how do you make it relevant? […] Kill more young people!”

Barnetson

2015

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Incidence of Work and Workplace Injury Among Alberta Teens

Barnetson¹

2013

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Utilizing a convenience sample of nearly 2000 respondents drawn fromadministrative data, this study finds 43.7 percentof adolescents (aged 12-14) and61.5 percent of young persons (aged 15-17) in the Canadian province of Albertareported employment in 2011/12. Of those employed,49.7 percent of adolescentsand 59.0 percent of young persons reported at leastone work-related injury inthe previous year. This study also identifies widespread non-reporting ofworkplace injuries and seemingly ineffective hazardidentification and safetytraining. These results add to the growing evidencethat the regulation of teenageemployment in Alberta fails to adequately protect these workers from injury.

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Safe Enough? The Working Lives of New Zealand Children

Anderson

2010

LEW

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The experience of New Zealand children in their working lives is a traditionally under researched area and existing research has been promulgated from the NGO sector (ACYA 2003, CARITAS 2007 & 2003), with children under the age of 18 recounting their working experiences. Of concern are worrying trends relating to the lack of legislative protection of children, particularly in the areas of minimum age for work and health and safety. Further, key findings are presented from survey and interview data of young adults reflecting on their working lives as children. Working conditions varied widely according to industry type, in which the best working conditions appeared to be those provided by relatives or family friends. While young people were generally positive about their workplace experiences, some dangerous and illegal trends were signposted. These findings challenge the assumptions of the governments and regulatory authorities that children are ‘adequately’ protected by current legislation and practice. While there continues to be debate regarding New Zealand’s ratification of some United Nations (UN) and International Labour Organisation (ILO) protocols relating to protecting children in their working lives, little discourse is evident relating to domestic legislative and monitoring capacity in this concerning area of the labour market. Therefore, the central aim of this paper is to inform discussion on children’s work and help identify areas of concern in the working conditions of New Zealand children.

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Child Labour: What is Happening in New Zealand?

Cited by 3 publications

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The Prospects for Greater Enforcement of Teen Employment Laws in Alberta, Canada. “Politically, how do you make it relevant? […] Kill more young people!”

The Prospects for Greater Enforcement of Teen Employment Laws in Alberta, Canada. “Politically, how do you make it relevant? […] Kill more young people!”

Incidence of Work and Workplace Injury Among Alberta Teens

Safe Enough? The Working Lives of New Zealand Children

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